


Side Effects

by Morvidra



Category: Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Curses, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 00:22:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17950028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morvidra/pseuds/Morvidra
Summary: Cimorene and Morwen tackle a curse placed on the kingdom of... what is the place called, anyway?





	Side Effects

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheSecondBatgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondBatgirl/gifts).



“I had a message this morning,” Queen Cimorene said as she ducked a low-flying nightshade. She swung her sword at it and batted it sideways.

Morwen dropped another nightshade with a well-placed hex. “Who was it from?”

“The princess of… drat. I can’t remember the name of the place. Osgiliath, maybe?” Another nightshade was firmly struck to the boundary, crashing into a tree. “Or it might have been Otraria,” she amended.

“I’ve never heard of either of those,” Morwen said. She frowned at an approaching nightshade, which squealed fearfully and swerved aside, colliding with another.

“Well, apparently her kingdom, whatever it’s called, borders the Enchanted Forest,” Cimorene said. “And she says they’ve been hit with a curse.”

“An excellent idea,” Morwen muttered, hitting the group of remaining nightshades with what was, indeed, a curse. The few who were not evaporated fled the glade with appalled shrieks.

The two women surveyed the scene for a moment before Morwen asked, “What kind of curse did this princess say they had?”

“Apparently they’ve been hit by a curse of un-naming,” Cimorene said. “Which means that the kingdom – Oz? Otmound? – well, whatever it’s called…”

“Is now completely unable to be named or located,” Morwen finished grimly. “So you can stop trying to remember the name of the place, Cimorene. It’s magically impossible, and it needs to be fixed, fast.”

\-----

“Why do all our magical solutions involve cats?” Cimorene asked as they waited on the edge of the Enchanted Forest. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you. They’re just rather slow.”

“Cats investigate in their own good time,” Morwen said, concealing her own impatience. “But they happen to be rather good at getting past magical barriers, as you should remember.”

“If only they can avoid getting distracted by fish again,” Cimorene said under her breath.

She was interrupted by the return of Aunt Ophelia, whose breath (Morwen noticed) indeed reeked of fish.

“That’s a very odd place, Morwen,” the tortoiseshell announced. “They have a frost giant living in the palace, you know.”

Morwen blinked. “Unusual, I grant you.”

Cimorene, who was unable to hear cat speech, interrupted with “Did she find anything?”

Aunt Ophelia yawned. “There aren’t any wizards, if that’s what you were worried about.”

“No wizards,” Morwen relayed. “Apparently they have a frost giant in residence, though.”

Cimorene looked thoughtful. “That would help to cool the palace down in this weather, I imagine. Rather convenient, actually.”

“As long as you’re prepared to put up with the puddles everywhere,” Aunt Ophelia sniffed, licking her forepaws delicately.

“Aside from the frost giant, did you see anything unusual about…” Cimorene snapped her fingers irritably, “Orkmont, or whatever?”

Aunt Ophelia switched her tail about. “They have lots of those puffy flowers that explode when you sneeze on them.” 

“Dandelions,” Morwen translated. “I know you know what they’re called, Ophelia. I don’t think they have much relevance just now…” Her voice trailed off as a thought occurred to her. “Dandelions. Oh my.”

Aunt Ophelia looked smug even for a cat. 

\-----

“So the curse was tied to the dandelion flowers that grew in the palace grounds,” Cimorene said, sipping her lemonade. “Which meant when the flowers began to seed…”

“The seed was carried all over the kingdom,” Morwen confirmed. “It would have spread even further if Princess Elyssa hadn’t been so quick-witted and got a message to you as soon as she realised there was a problem.”

“She does seem surprisingly sensible, for a princess,” Cimorene agreed. 

“Especially for realising that the Enchanted Forest is immune to most external magic, and therefore was the only one of the kingdom’s neighbours that would be unaffected.”

“And _I_ realised that it was the dandelions,” Aunt Ophelia purred, licking cream from her whiskers.

“So you did,” Morwen agreed.

Aunt Ophelia looked quizzical. “But you haven’t told me who was responsible for the curse in the first place.”

Morwen sighed “It appears to have been the Chief Councillor of the palace.”

“Yes,” Cimorene confirmed. “I had a word with the Queen, afterward, and she said the Councillors had all been quite upset with the kingdom not being run _properly_ – by which they mean the absence of dragons, beanstalks, and piles of mattresses, I presume.” She snorted. “All of which would be quite a foolish way to govern, but Councillors never seem to think of that.”

Morwen spared a fleeting thought for Cimorene’s Palace Steward, who fussed over the proper furnishings of dungeons. “They all seem to be very much alike.”

“How very silly.” Aunt Ophelia turned her attention back to the last of the cream.

“Well, at least you sorted it out fairly easily, Morwen,” Cimorene said. “It would have been terribly annoying to never be able to remember the name of…” she waved her hand vaguely, “Ohulan?” She frowned. “Morwen, why can I still not think of the name of the kingdom?”

Feeling slightly guilty, Morwen pulled the spell-sheet out of her sleeve. “Slight residual magic may be experienced for up to two days following the application of this counter-charm,” she read aloud. “If effects persist, see your magic provider.”

“Oh… bother!”

**Author's Note:**

> The kingdom is, of course, Oslett - which appears in the short story "The Princess, the Cat and the Unicorn" and from which I have borrowed the very practical Princess Elyssa, the Chief Councillor, the frost giant, and the dandelions. 
> 
> The places Cimorene names all come from other fantasy worlds, so you can play 'spot-the-reference' if you like.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! :)
> 
> Image by ron5001 on Pixabay


End file.
